


The Riddle Café

by FoxGamer429



Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Background Harley/Ivy - Freeform, Book Lover Jason Todd, Character Death, Ed's litterally becoming a second dad to the batkids, Edward Nygma Tries, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Light Angst, Yeah it's jason
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-07
Updated: 2020-09-14
Packaged: 2021-03-06 18:17:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,268
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26333266
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FoxGamer429/pseuds/FoxGamer429
Summary: Welcome to The Riddle Café! Where, in an Alternate Universe, our favorite genius didn't become a supervillain and the bane of Batman's existence after getting fired from his job. He instead opened a café in the heart of Gotham!While not frequented by who you'd normally expect would frequent a place like this, is frequented by two groups in particularVigilantes and Psychopaths
Relationships: Pamela Isley/Harleen Quinzel
Comments: 2
Kudos: 21





	1. The Beginning

Opening a business in Gotham was harder than opening a business anywhere else. While opening a business anywhere was hard, in Gotham, you might as well not try at all

With the constant threat of robbery, demolition, somehow becoming the front of an up and coming gang, or the amount of other terrible-for-bussiness things that could happen;Unless its a family business or chain, you might as well try somewhere else

This did not, however, stop Edward Nashton

This had to happen. He couldn't get his dream job back, and nowhere else was hiring. Edward, honestly, had nothing left to lose.

Well, except for Elizabeth.

He was doing this _for_ his daughter. To make sure she has a future! He wanted to make sure his daughter didn't have to live on the streets, needing to steal to survive. 

That was when he saw the ad for the café

It wasn't perfect, not by a long shot. It was run down and there was a reason it was on sale for any poor soul to buy it, but it would work. 

It was a miracle that he had saved up enough money(and the money that was in his long lost fathers savings. Thank goodness Edward was the one writing the will) to buy it without having to take Eliza out of school. 

Edward sold the house they where living in before, as there was an apartment over the café and that gave them enough money to start renovating the place. He repainted the walls a nice mint green and got someone to put new flooring and walls in, obviously not in that order.

Hr sold his car for even more money. While you would think that he should have kept his car, for groceries and-for Eliza- School, there where alternatives. Being in the heart of Gotham, the stores where barely a mile away in multiple directions. Plus, if need be, there was the city bus

Edward had renamed the place "The Riddle Café" When he had decided to start the process of opening the damn place. He didn't know why he had named it that, but the name had stuck and now it was on this plack of wood written in cursive surrounded by neon question marks

The appliances in the kitchen where the ones he had at home or whatever was in good quality and on sale. Edward got all the food he needed in bulk and, knowing he was going to need coffee if he where to make this whole Café thing worked, got a few cans of Folger's until he could afford to buy premium coffee beans from Jamaica

He had learned to cook for two reasons. The first was so he could make himself actual meals and don't have to live off of whatever leftovers where available and ramen. The second was so that _Eliza_ didn't live off of leftovers, boxed foods, and ramen

Edward took in a deep sigh as he flipped the sign outside to 'Open' for the first time

* * *

Edward didn't get his first customer until 2 weeks after opening. And, no, it was not a break in or the clowns 

It was the Batmans sidekick, Robin

The kid-thankfully- came in the front door with a skip in his step and sat down at the countertop and rang the bell. Alerting Edward of his presence from the kitchen

"Coming!" Edward shouted, actually doing what he had said. He took notice of the...kid? Teen? How old was Robin anyway?

Edward took in a deep breath in and put a smile on his face before welcoming the kid to the café

"Welcome" He simply said, putting a menu in front of Robin "Would you like something to drink?"

"Yeah! Uh..." He thought for a moment "What juice do you have?"

"Apple and Orange" Edward answered

"Apple Juice please" Robin said. Looking at the menu again

"Coming right up" he went to the kitchen to grab a glass and poured the juice from the fountain "here you go"

"Thank you!" The kid smiled. Robin got out five dollars to pay for his drink "Here you go!"

"Thank you" there was a long silence for a minute while Robin drank his drink. Starting to get uncomfortable with the silence, Edward decided to ask the kid a question that had been bugging him while he got the drink

"Does your guardian know your here?"

"B? No, not really"

"What do you mean 'Not really'?"

"I said I was going to get something to drink, I never specified where before I dipped"

"Oh, OK. Well, next time, tell your guardian where your going, k?"

"K. See ya!" The kid put the glass down before leaving with his cape flowing behind him

"Bye" Edward waved

* * *

The first Robin-Now going by Nightwing- became a frequent customer of his. This was to the point where, whenever the Bat got a new bird, the Oldest took them to the Café

Sometime before the evolution between Robin and Nightwing, the Café had gotten a following, mostly between the Bats and the Rogues, though it was rare for people of both groups to be at the place at the same time

So, while the owner of the Café cleaned the coffee mug, the 18 year old Robin was complaining of the situation he and his guardian where in

"I just don't get it! He still treats me like a kid when I'm practically an adult!" The Self proclaimed Adult complained while drinking his latte the was added to the menu exactly 5 days ago

"Uh huh" Edward said, only slightly paying attention

"What should I do?" Robin asked

"What should you do?" Edward said, confused

"I don't know! That's why I asked you"

"Well...your 18 now, more or less. Maybe...move out? And focus on College?" Edward seriously didn't know what advise to give the poor teen

"....maybe" Robin sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose only slightly

There was a silence that was all to familiar between them before Edward went back to the kitchen


	2. The Second Robin

Edward didn't see Robin-now going by Nightwing, aparantly-for a while

When he saw him next, however, there was a new kid with him

The kid-and he actually meant kid this time- was about Elizabeth's age, maybe older. His hair looked more dyed then naturally black, like Nightwings'. He looked unsure and fearful, yet at the same time angry and defensive. The topical look of Gotham youth

"Hey, Ed!" Nightwing cheerfully said, yet Ed could pick up on the hidden anger that was most likely going to be projected onto The Bat, a criminal, or both "Long time no see, how've ya been?"

"Doing great, thanks for asking" Edward answered with a smile, not bringing up the Vigilantes current mood "How have you been?"

"Great!" Nightwing sat down at the counter, ushering the younger Robin to sit down next to him. The younger one sat down reluctantly next to the older Vigilante

"What can I get for you two?" Edward asked

"I'll have a glass of milk" Nightwing answered with a smile. Looking over to the younger Robin, he asked "What do you want?"

"Uh..." Robin looked as though he wasn't expecting the question "I'll just have milk also"

"OK, two glasses of milk. I'll be back in a second" Edward went to the cupbourd and got a couple of glasses. He then went to go get the milk and poured it, put the milk back, and served the two vigilantes "here ya go"

"Thanks, Ed" Nightwing thanked the Café owner with a smile

"Thank ya" the younger one nodded before taking a sip of milk

"Your welcome" Ed responded

After a short conversation, the pair was done with their milks and paid.

* * *

The second Robin came back a few times. They where mostly few and far in between, but he had come enough times for Edward to get a good grasp on his personality

The new Robin was violent and often impulsive. Could be described as brash and definitely moody. But he seemed to enjoy school and definitely liked to read, and seemed to have taken up an interest in cooking.

When the Robin visited, he would occasionally ask for book recomendasions, which Edward was happy to give. Because of these occasional exchanges between the two, Edward decided to put a mini library inside of the Café if they where interested.

The 'library' was only one bookcase, but it did hold about 200 books. Mostly fiction, with about ten non fiction on the bottom shelf, it had a pretty good collection of books. A good number of which where, in fact, recommended to _Edward_ by the second Robin. 

He was sure that Robin almost cried.

Keyword being "Almost"

The Robin carefully walked over to the Bookcase-Library-Thingamabob and looked it over. It was about 8 shelves, each carying around 25-50 books on each shelf. The Bookcase itself was oak, painted black. Next to the bookcase sat a small table with a couple of notebooks. One titled "Recommendation's" and the other titled "Checkout"

"You like it?" Ed asked from behind the startled teen

"Da-don't do that!" Robin said, catching his breath "It's bad enough that Bats does it, don't need you doin' it to" The ginger just chuckled

"But it's fun" Ed teased, making the teen Pout harder "anyways, like it?"

"Uh, yeah, actually" they both looked at it again and smiled

* * *

A few months later, something happened

Nightwing came in, not even trying to cover up the fact that he was upset. 

Edward noticed immediately, a look of concern quickly taking over his face.

"What's wrong? Did something happen?" Edward asked the vigilante

"Y-yeah, actually" Nightwing answered with a few tears being wiped away in the process

"What happened?" Edward quickly sat down next to the vigilante

"R-Robin....

....robin died...."

Edward gained a feeling of misplaced guilt "I-I'm so sorry" he whispered

"Don't be. If anyone's to blaim" Nightwing sniffled "It's B, or Joker" he tried to wipe away tears "apearantly, he died a week ago, and" Nightwing baned his fist onto the table "he didn't bother telling me until an hour ago" he put his face into his hands, most likely about to pull sour his hair "thought I wouldn't care" he didn't even bother trying not to cry

"You clearly do care, though" Edward said, confused

"Exactly..."

"Would you like anything to drink? Tea? Hot Chocolate?" Ed offered to comfort the grieving vigilante

"I'll just have water..." Edward nodded and went to get a glass


	3. Harley Quinn

The Café had started to gain a pretty good reception amongst rogues. By that, I mostly mean d-listers, street thugs, and run-of-the-mill henchman. No one b-list or higher had given the café a second glance

Until Harley ruined the peace

Edward was not really in the mood to rebuild the Café from the ground up, so he just let the clown girl do whatever she wanted, which was service

"Welcome, how may I help you?" He asked, hiding the fear of death or rebuilding due to a bomb 

"Hiya! 'Eard ya sell'd coffee?"

Edward gritted his teath "obviously" he whispered

"I'll 'ave one a' those" Edward sighed and got a cup of coffee ready

When the coffee was done, Ed gave it to the clown girl "anything else?" 

Harley checked the clock, showing that it was lunch time "what sandwiches do ya sell?"

"Ham and cheese, peanut butter&jelly, Monte cristo..." Ed started to list the kinds of sandwiches he could make from memory

"I'll 'ave a turkey and bacon" She said with a smile reaching her eyes

"What cheese?" He asked, praying it wasn't-

"American please!" _damnit_

Edward continued to smile, which was not hiding his mild resentment of the clown "I'll have it done soon" he then robotically moved to make the sandwich

When the sandwich was done, he put it down with a little force.

"What was that for?" Harley asked

"Sorry, I'm just not in the best mood right now" He tried to get back to the counter, but Harley grabbed his arm

"Wanna talk about it?" Edward caught her eyes before sighing and sitting down

They talked for a while. He told her about his conversation with Nightwing the previous day, about how his daughter just started school again after what felt like a short winter break, about the attention the café was getting from both heroes and common thugs alike and how stressful it was getting. And to top it all off, Harley asking for the processed garbage that was American Cheese

"Sorry, didn't realize ya 'ad a personal vendetta against it" Harley apologized

"It's fine" Ed rubbed his eyes. He checked the clock, 2:30, Eliza was going to get off school soon "Anything else?"

"No, not really" Harley got up and played, which was appreciated "see ya?"

"Yeah, see ya"

* * *

Harley soon became one of Ed's favorite regulars. Thankfully, she never ordered American Cheese with her sandwiches ever again

She followed the rules(even if she fake pouted about it) and even recommended books for the makeshift Library

With time and getting better ingredients, Harley started to bring Ivy on dates to the café. Ed was already getting his ingredients from "environmentally friendly" companies, so ordering things was going to be even ~~worse~~ _Better_

"One Turkey sandwich with extra strawberries for Harley-" Her orders where always strange "-and one chicken ceased salad for Pam"

"Thank ya Ed!" Harley yelled when Ed was already half way to the counter

"Ya, ya" he rolled his hand in a clockwise motion "don't mention it"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm thinking about making a tumblr ask blog for this au, what do you think?


End file.
